Good article that. I don't see why they should have to justify Federer's exclusion, if that is the right word. It is their tournament. I vote for Wimbledon excluding him next year, just because, or maybe the WTF.

I don't believe their excuse for excluding Federer though. He's such a major draw that they'd be mad to exclude him if they're wanting to sell lots of tickets. Plus it's not just past champions of this event that are going to be there (e.g. Berdych, Ferrer and Tipsarevic have never won and are participating this year). I imagine Fed is asking for too much money, and with Rafa being there too they probably don't want to pay a fortune for both.

I don't believe their excuse for excluding Federer though. He's such a major draw that they'd be mad to exclude him if they're wanting to sell lots of tickets. Plus it's not just past champions of this event that are going to be there (e.g. Berdych, Ferrer and Tipsarevic have never won and are participating this year). I imagine Fed is asking for too much money, and with Rafa being there too they probably don't want to pay a fortune for both.

To be honest the article reads as if they are effectively making up a reason not to invite him, which does lead one to think it could be a money issue. Like I said before though, it's their tournament, they really should be free to invite who they want.

I think he is getting to the point of being very very greedy. Perhaps he has bust his piggy bank. Really how can someone who has so much money be so miserable. Perhaps he thinks I am coming to the end of my days of making big bucks so I'll be outrageous and ask for very large sums of money before I take part.

I wonder if he's feeling a bit insecure lately since going forward, there won't be any steady source of income when he retires, unless of course, he gets involved into something that would generate similar income. So he probably wants to make as much as possible before he retires. And he can demand it too given his reputation.

The man is worth millions he has more than enough to live in comfort for the rest of his life. He will have a lot of investments and sponsorship deals too. So I really cannot understand why he behaves as he does.

This was a media event as much as it was a training session, as much about sending out the message that he intends to challenge for the Australian Open title as it was about working on his serve and his lasso forehand. So the press were invited along to an indoor hard court to watch Rafa Nadal and his uncle Toni. Nadal also publicised the practice session, sharing some photographs and some videos with his 11 million fans on Facebook – the first video, 15 seconds long, showed Nadal striking groundstrokes at the baseline, and the second, all 36 seconds of it, saw him working on his serve. “Today was my first tennis practice after all these weeks. Getting better and hope to continue with the positive trend,” said Nadal, whose last competitive tennis was in June, a second-round defeat to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon.

Despite the optimism – Nadal is scheduled to play in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi at the end of December – that doesn’t mean that Hoffa’s Fat Pad will suddenly disappear from the tennis lexicon. Everyone in tennis hopes that Nadal will return to the tour able to compete at his best, but there is always going to be the flickering concern that the problems with his knees will reappear – indeed, until we see him play a competitive match, it is difficult to assess what sort of shape he is going to be in. From what we could see on the videos, he was striking the ball just fine, but there’s a world of difference between a practice session and trying to beat Novak Djokovic on the Rod Laver Arena. What should we expect from Nadal when he returns to the tour? Even operating at 90 per cent of his former powers, he could still carry on winning French Opens. But he would struggle to win trophies at the other slams, at the hard-court Australian and US Opens and at the grass-court Wimbledon Championships.

The second half of the 2012 season could have turned out quite differently if Rafa Nadal hadn’t been suffering from a partial tear of the patella tendon and inflammation of the Hoffa’s Fat Pad. You wouldn’t have heard of Lukas Rosol. Would Roger Federer have won a seventh Wimbledon title? Would Andy Murray have won a first slam at the US Open? Despite that, the other members of the top three will wish him well, and will want to see him running about the PlexiCushion courts in Melbourne.

Rafa Nadal’s long absences from the tour – this certainly wasn’t the first time that his knees have caused him such problems – made you consider how remarkable it is that Roger Federer has hardly missed any tennis during his career. He has taken breaks when he has chosen to, not when his body has screamed at him to stop.

It is worth remembering that Rafa Nadal is not the only one of the top who has to manage a long-term knee problem. Andy Murray, born with a split kneecap, often finds himself in discomfort, particularly when he’s on a clay court.

The ATP Champions Tour tournament in Edinburgh - the Champions of Tennis - will make history by being the first tennis tournament ever to take place at a Rugby Club. The tournament launches at Raeburn Place, the home of Edinburgh Academicals Football Club, 20-23 June 2013.

Raeburn Place is used to being at the forefront of sporting history and has a rich record in the sporting world.

It was the first venue to ever hold a full Rugby international between Scotland and England in 1871, and the club itself, founded in 1857, is the second oldest in the world. It was also the venue for the first ever Scotland women’s rugby international in 1993, held games during the U21 Rugby World Cup, but until now has never hosted Tennis.

Viki Mendelssohn, Tournament Director of Champions of Tennis, said: “Raeburn Place will be a fantastic location for Champions of Tennis and will contribute a great deal to the local economy during the event. I am sure many of the local businesses will prosper and indeed Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole are going reap the benefits of this global event. Being born in Stockbridge, living my early years there and going to Flora Stevenson I have always been a big fan of the area. I played rugby for Edinburgh Academicals for 9 years, helped to found the Women’s section and even now I spend a lot of time around Raeburn Place, so the area and club are very close to my heart.”

Euan McFie, President of Edinburgh Academicals FC, said: “Champions of Tennis is exactly the type of event we wish to attract and show that we can host sports apart from Rugby. To have an event of a global nature at Raeburn Place is an honour and we are very much looking forward to developing a longstanding relationship with Champions of Tennis to ensure success in 2013 and beyond. The event could not be coming at a better time in terms of Tennis being in the spotlight and we are very excited to be part of the first ever ATP event to be held in Scotland".

Jan Felgate, CEO of the ATP Champions Tour, added: "The ATP Champions Tour visits cities all over the world and our events are held in many different stadiums and arenas, but this is the first time we will have been hosted at a rugby club. The players will very much look forward to it and I'm sure it will make for a fantastic atmosphere."

Cllr Steve Cardownie, Festivals and Events Champion, said: "There's still a huge buzz in the air following Andy Murray's gold medal at the Olympics and his stunning US Open triumph last month, so it’s fantastic that the ATP Champions Tour will be coming to Scotland's capital next summer. Occasions like this further cement this city's much-envied reputation as the home of top notch sporting and cultural events and I'm sure people will turn out in their thousands to support the event and catch a glimpse of some of tennis' true greats."

Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland, said: “Scotland is the perfect stage for events and it will be fantastic to see the greats of Tennis descend on the capital for the ATP Champions Tour next year. Tennis is in the Scottish spotlight like never before following the huge success of Andy Murray this summer, and I have no doubt that will help to make this a must-see event for fans of the sport in 2013.”

The player-field for the tournament and ticket details will be announced in the months to come.

^ It's been known for a while that the Champions Tour was coming here on a regular basis but the question was where the venue would be since it would have to be specially set up for the occasion. The Edinburgh Accies rugby ground is ideal since it's within easy walking distance from the train and bus stations.